Till Death or Forever
by Darlin
Summary: Logan's the last X-Man but he's not alone, he has all the X-Men clones. He's still lonely even with his favorite clone, Ororo. But when his Peter clone loses Ororo & they go in search for her he finds a wonderful surprise. A little sci-fi, a little romance, a little one shot with a little twist. First Sci-Fi so please be gentle!


**Till Death or Forever**

 **by Darlin**

 **A/N** – Okay, I know I said I wasn't going to write any more, just finish up old stories, but an idea came to me right after I finished **Inevitable** , uh yeah that was another digression I guess, but still I totally felt compelled to put fingers to keyboard and, well, this is nothing like that story and yet there's a small similarity and if you like sci fi like I do this might be to your taste. This is my first attempt at sci fi but I hope you enjoy it.

 **Disclaimer** – No copyright infringement is intended  & no profit is made, just fun!

 **Part One**

Logan was browsing through his closet intent upon finding just what he wanted but instead of clothes, as one might expect he was looking for, he was browsing through his selection of women. He swept through them like clothes on hangers and they actually were on special hangers that held each cloned replication in its containment chamber that sported a window so he could see in and easily retrieve the one he wanted.

He sighed heavily as he browsed. He was bored. He'd found that he'd quickly gotten tired of his women, Heather, Betsy, Jean, Domino, Seraph. Domino was spirited but there was nothing there, no particular chemistry or friendship. Jean was full of spirit but was too much like the real Jean now long dead and still not what he really wanted. Heather and Seraph were too motherly. Betsy was spirited and fun but he'd never been that into her so he hadn't taken advantage of her although she'd taken advantage of him, something he hadn't expected.

He looked over at his Kitty and Jubilee clones sitting in large oversized chairs in front of a low table by the fireplace in his bedroom. His near constant companions were shut down for the moment. Sometimes they sounded too much like the real Kitty and Jubilee going at it so he'd overridden their programing and inactivated them temporarily. But usually it made him happy listening to their chatter and bickering although he wouldn't admit it to a soul. Well, maybe he'd admit it to Ororo.

He reached into his pocket when his stomach started rumbling and pulled out a remote and quickly reset Kitty and Jubilee's schedules, activating them again. Momentarily they opened their eyes, smiled and waved goodbye as they got up and left.

"Something fast for dinner would be good, I'm pretty hungry," he called after them. "Surprise me!"

He then turned back to his closet of clones, pushed Kitty and Jubilee's empty storage units out of the way then shoved Mystique aside, she was useless but sometimes when he wanted a little bite he'd use her. Not often. Yukio, whom he moved aside quickly, had become just plain annoying. He passed over Electra whom he only used as a sparring partner, and pushed aside Rogue who was too needy he'd discovered. He wondered how Remy had ever put up with her.

He stopped in his search as he came upon the very last container and he knew she was what he'd been looking for all along.

"Ororo," he whispered as his hand reached out and touched the glass window above her face.

He stared at her for a long moment. Her eyes were closed and there was a slight smile on her lips. He always debated whether to use her or not. But as much as he tried not to he couldn't help releasing the latch. He then gently removed her from her chamber and carried her to his bed and laid her down, smoothed her clothes and hair. He stood there looking at her for a long time, torn as to what to do.

It was weird how much things had changed in a little over a century. Not many had ever expected a movie like Blade Runner to come true and if they had they hadn't expected to live that long and hadn't expected replicants to dream of electric sheep or dream of anything else for that matter. But clones had been automated and improved so that many were similar to sophisticated cyborgs manned with a remote to control them. The black market was thriving as people craved DNA of past celebrities and heroes and mutants and anything that piqued their interest. He knew if he ever went out into the world he'd run into at least a dozen Marilyn Monroe's and other idols from different eras.

Once fertility specialist were able to clone embryo's the scientific community split down the middle about the ethics of cloning. But after decades of debate and rogue scientists developing human embryonic clones through private funding, they'd finally developed a clone with restored and retained encoded memories of a deceased donor. After that everything changed. Hybrid cyborgs and clone automations were everywhere even though most country's maintained their bans against cloning. But as always anyone rich enough could easily pay for what they wanted or work with a country where there were no laws prohibiting cloning or restricting how clones were used.

The only reason Logan had clones at all was because he'd felt no one had a right to misuse his long ago teammates. He'd paid top dollar for some of them even though they weren't all close to the real thing. His first additions of Kurt and Peter he'd kind of hoped to pal around with, have a beer with, were just boring. He wondered if his memory was finally slipping or if they'd really been that boring.

When he'd seen Ororo walking down the street on the arm of a billionaire that had done it for him though. He'd bought a Remy and had him steal her away. In fact, he had Remy and Ororo steal all the Ororo's and Jean's they could find as well as Jubilee's and Kitty's and then anyone who'd ever been affiliated with the X-Men. He'd thought their DNA was safely secured in the X-Men cemetery which had been covered over in adamantium and vibrarium with a building built over it to disguise what it was but he'd failed to consider what desperate measures people would take in getting the clone they wanted. With the help of his Remy and Ororo clones they'd stolen into government facilities and adroitly retrieved what was rightfully theirs, stealing every trace of DNA as well as any clones no matter whatever state they were in.

It had been just like the old days and he'd enjoyed working beside Ororo again, trusting her instincts, enjoying her easy going personality. They'd laughed at the absurdity of the necessity of stealing their teammates of old even though it was absurd that she too was a clone. Now the other copies were safely stored away in an underground facility beneath his house and quite nicely booby trapped by Forge who was resting there too. He'd also exhumed and cremated the decomposed bodies from the cemetery then blown the old cemetery sky high so no trace of his friend's DNA would ever be found again.

None of the clones had powers although mentally they were as sharp as they had been before their death. Something about the cloning process wouldn't allow the X gene to mutate a second time. But they wore out very slowly particularly if they were stored in their containment units. Logan had also discovered that the first copies seemed to be more vibrant, more like the true person they were made from if they weren't bootleg first editions like his first Peter and Kurt were. Unfortunately he found the very first Jean had rankled him just as much as the later versions with her intrusive, knowing manner. The very first and only Ororo, well, this was her, resting now on his bed.

He hadn't expected to feel so much whenever he took her out. He hadn't expected to feel anything with any of them much less do anything with any of them but in time as the years passed he'd become more solitary and the girls had become concerned. Betsy had started it. He'd enjoyed being with her but he'd felt weird so he hadn't continued it, after all they were family not toys.

His favorites were Kitty and Jubilee and Ororo. The first two he considered his kids and that was that. He'd had the girls cloned young, back when they looked up to him like a father so they were the perfect age. He loved them. And Ororo, he loved her. She'd kept him company more than any of the others because she liked the same things he liked. He'd never grown tired of her but more and more he'd started feeling that what he was feeling for her was wrong and so he'd finally just shut her down. This was the first time he'd brought her out in a month.

"Hi," she said with a soft smile as her eyes opened and she sat up after he activated her.

He didn't know why every time she opened her sky blue eyes and smiled at him that he felt like butter melting in the hot sun. He felt a little goofy feeling like that too but she did that to him.

She was reaching for his hand, pulling him down onto the bed, and he went willingly.

"What have you been up to my friend?" she asked, still smiling, still holding his hand.

He sighed. Her words explained why he had never been anything more than friend.

"Have Kitty and Jubilee been up to their usual arguing?" she asked as she looked around the empty room.

"Well, I did shut 'em down for a few when they started making life endangering threats but they're making dinner now."

Ororo was up and racing for the door. Logan groaned. Was he really that stupid to have assigned them the same task?

"So not that big of a mess, huh?" he said when he found the girls on their knees cleaning up broken glass and spilt milk while giving Ororo resentful looks.

"This isn't my fault, Jubilee made this mess!" Kitty fumed.

"I wanted to make hamburgers and _she_ wanted to make a protein shake and . . ."

"And now we'll make both, Jubilee, including a salad so we can all have a balanced meal," Ororo said calmly although not one of them needed a balanced meal.

Logan laughed. This Ororo should be a pain but she was soothing because she brought order to his life. He'd missed her.

Ororo moved to the refrigerator to find salad makings that she knew none of them needed because Logan's healing factor had enabled him to live a full hundred years past the last X-Man's death no matter what he ate or didn't eat. And clones didn't need to eat food since they received necessary nutrients through their containment units or via a serum if activated and in use.

Logan watched her as she hummed a tune as she worked. Looking from her to the girls he thought they looked just like any family perhaps, him and Ororo and their adopted kids. It made him feel good and warm inside even though he knew it wasn't real.

"Let's go somewhere later," Ororo suggested as she put vegetables in a washer unit attached within the sink.

"Hmm? Oh, naw, let's just stay in," he said, coming up behind her and putting his arms around her waist. If he held her for a little while he could catch a whiff of a scent that was exactly like Ororo of old and that always gave him a blissful feeling of peace.

"Let's have popcorn and watch a movie with Jean and Rogue," she said.

"Hey! What about us?" Jubilee piped up.

"If you behave of course you're welcome too," Ororo said, smiling.

"We'll be good, I'll make sure she is," Kitty said and Ororo chuckled when Jubilee made a face at Kitty.

"Why can't it just be you an' me?" Logan asked.

"Because you're in love with Jean and you need to remember that," Ororo said as she pushed a button to start the rinse cycle.

"Touché," Kitty said and laughed.

"You two mind your own business an' just make dinner. Ro, no salad t'night, you come with me."

Ororo turned the rinse cycle unit off and let him lead her out onto the wide terrace that circled the house. There were countless stars in the night sky and the Milky Way was partially visible. It was breathtakingly gorgeous and he knew Ororo loved it. He wrapped his arm around her and enjoyed sharing the moment with her even though she was just a clone of the real Ororo that he missed. Simple moments like this were some of the best times he had now that he'd removed himself from the world.

"Why don't you marry Jean and have a family?" she suddenly asked.

"Huh?"

"You shouldn't be alone."

"I have you an' our girls, I ain't alone."

"But you're lonely."

Logan let her go and walked over to the railing and rested his arms on it as he looked out at the dark valley.

"I know you think I must sound like Jean who . . ."

"Who thinks she knows me so well but don't really?"

Ororo laughed. "Touché," she said.

Logan sighed. He'd loved Jeanie once a long, long, long time ago. He didn't love her now. That was the thing with the clones; they hadn't progressed from who they were when they'd died. They hadn't changed and didn't see life in a different light despite the span of years. She could see he was lonely, and he was, but she couldn't see that it wasn't Jean that he wanted to watch a movie with and it wasn't Jean that he wanted.

"I'd just like to spend some time with you, Ro," he said as he turned to face her.

"You . . . didn't seem inclined to spend time with me before."

He frowned as he leaned against the railing. He knew she was fully aware that she'd been shut down for a month. He didn't know how to explain his mixed feelings about her or about what they were doing. Clones had few rights if any. Even in countries where they were legal they couldn't marry and no clone could physically have children. The unique genetic code in each DNA molecule that controlled the reproductive process, similar to the X-gene, wasn't transferable in the cloning process.

Only humans who were married were allowed to mate, one child and one child only. For anyone who longed to marry and raise a family the chances were slim with birth control drugs in the water and with all water sources controlled including rain water. Marriage had become something almost sacred because it was so scarce. It was seldom arbitrary and if and when it was sanctioned by the United Nations marriage was for life. Poverty had been eradicated when over population started being controlled through childbirth monitoring, effectively solving that age old problem. And with no poverty and the United Nations running things life had improved tremendously though there were still wars here and there.

"Who did you spend time with while I was . . . sleeping?" she asked.

His eyes widened at her question. It was a question asked with no emotion but to him she sounded like a jealous lover. He was unsure how much emotion the clones could really feel but he always strove to never hurt them.

"I had some talks with the girls," he said.

"Talks?"

"Well, mostly when they were shut down. I spent a lot of time alone for a change, did a lot of hiking . . ."

"And you chose not to take me hiking with you. Who did you take?"

He hadn't expected this, that she'd be so hurt. Her words held no emotion but the look on her face told him everything.

"No one. I just needed some time alone, had a lot ta think about."

She gazed at him but her expression was neutral now. He wanted to tell her that he'd ached for her all that time without her but that he was afraid of her. He wanted to tell her that she meant everything to him even though she shouldn't. How did you love a clone? He couldn't make sense of it and didn't know how to tell her, to make her understand, especially without hurting her. It seemed as if there was no solution at all – he'd hurt her either way.

He reached for her, took her hand in his and pulled her close. She was stiff in his arms. He was sorry he'd hurt her. He touched her face gently but quickly dropped his hand and let her go. It was hard not to want to touch her and comfort her but equally hard to do so. He was still so conflicted.

"I missed you," he admitted and immediately saw her come back to life.

"I dreamed of you," she said smiling dreamily.

Logan didn't know if she really had or if it was just something she wanted to believe although the Ororo he'd known would never have told him she had if she hadn't. There was just so much they didn't know about clones.

"We escaped all this," she said. "We were free."

He sighed. He'd never be free because he would never die. He'd holed up in his fortress away from civilization while hoping for privacy and the freedom to do as he pleased and though no one bothered him he'd seen that freedom was more than a large secluded ranch. Freedom was thought and action and hopes and dreams – freedom to live as he chose even if it meant loving a clone. Only the way he wanted to live, who he loved, went against everything he'd fought against

the UN for, everything he believed in.

 **-xox-**

When Logan woke up Ororo's soft, warm body was beside him. Jubilee and Kitty were sprawled out on the same chairs they'd been resting in earlier but he'd deactivated them again. He looked at the wall size wide screen media unit that blended into the wall so perfectly that you couldn't see it was there when it was off. There was only a small control panel which flashed the time whenever someone looked in that direction. He groaned when he saw the time. They'd overslept but he felt more rested than he had in, well, in a month.

Popcorn and a movie had never gone out of style. Movies were live action epics now but the girls preferred movies from the era they remembered. Logan enjoyed watching the girls more than the movie. He was glad Ororo let him sit with his arm around her and hadn't suggested that he activate his harpy Jean – why hadn't he seen what a shrew she'd turn out to be?

He looked at Ororo who had a hand on his chest and her head close to his. He gently took her hand in his and idly ran a thumb over it. He thought of who he'd want to spend the rest of his life with. He'd never thought about it until the possibilities became endless but he'd quickly found the selection was actually quite sparse.

There was a knock at the door and Logan sighed. He looked at Ororo for a little bit before putting her hand on the bed and getting up.

Peter was waiting patiently for Logan to open the door. He'd automatically been activated when his containment pod in the basement opened on a timer. Some of the clones were on timers to serve certain purposes like Jubilee and Kitty with meals but mostly the clones were sad copies with no reason for existing and he never used them. He didn't know if that was worse than death or better. The whole clone thing was screwy the way he saw it, and wrong. He felt no one had the right to his friends for any purpose. Except him. Yeah, he knew that was backwards thinking but no one else was walking around with an Ororo on his arm except him now.

"It is time," Peter said.

"Yup. Let me get Ororo," Logan replied as he let Peter in.

"She looks like she is sleeping the sleep of angels," Peter said.

Logan glanced at him. He always wondered how many emotions the clones were capable of experiencing. He didn't trust them completely. Jean was standoffish, Betsy too frisky, Ororo too . . . too jealous? No, she was too perfect. Ororo had really been that to him too – understanding, sweet, considerate and when called for, firm and deadly – the perfect woman.

"Hmm?" she said when he gently shook her.

"Sleep well?"

She looked away from him without responding and he immediately felt guilty. She looked at the media screen and saw how late it was.

"Good morning, Ororo," Peter greeted her.

"Oh, Peter our monthly shopping!" she exclaimed then rose with a smile for Peter. She was fully clothed as was Logan but she headed to another closet that held clothes for her and Logan's 'kids', selected an outfit then went into the bathroom.

Logan was glad Ororo was so easygoing most of the time. Betsy would have asked to sleep in and Rogue would've just rolled over and told him to go on without her. Jean would have wanted coffee first and only then would she have gone without complaint and Jubilee and Kitty would be like toddlers excited to be included on a trip, or at least that was how _his_ clones reacted. But Ororo only needed a shower and a change of clothes and she was ready to go.

"You aren't going?" she asked when she came out freshly showered and in a new set of clothes.

He was still in bed. He didn't want to go with her. In fact, he was debating whether to shut her down again. Too often he felt things he shouldn't feel for a replica robot of a woman he'd missed his chance with and frankly he felt that was weirder than weird. Of course he knew she wasn't a robot but she also wasn't Ororo despite being her clone. Still, he also wanted to go back to bed with her and send Sage with Peter instead.

Peter was set with a monthly shopping reminder, sleeping in his pod between shopping days. Logan always wondered how fair that was to his friend – or rather to the clone of his friend. But he had no answers when it came to the clones. Out of all his clones he trusted Ororo the most and often left her in charge because even though she stood out and he was sure everyone knew her he also knew she'd get the shopping done discreetly and efficiently. Only Sage was more efficient but she wasn't inclined to think of hair dye for Jean or the kind of ice cream Kitty liked and the special brand of bubble gum Jubilee insisted on and the special biscuits Betsy liked or even remember Rogue's grits. He'd discovered that his clone Sage was more analytical and impersonal than the real Sage had been and was even less fun to be around. Things like that made him wonder all the more about the clones. It was just a bad situation all around the way he saw it.

"You take good care of her," Logan told Peter though his eyes were on Ororo who continued to ignore him. He was afraid he'd hurt her again.

From the terrace Logan watched them lift off in his classic 1980 Blackbird jet and only when the plane disappeared in the distance did he go back inside. He felt a heavy loneliness with Ororo's absence. He knew Kitty and Jubilee would lift his spirits for a while but all he really wanted was Ororo. He took his clothes off, crawled back into bed, thought about putting the girls back in the closet out of his way but instead he just pulled the covers over his head for a moment of privacy even though they couldn't see anything when turned off. He longed for normalcy.

 **-xox-**

"This is always fun," Peter said.

"I hate shopping as much as I hate sleeping," Ororo said as she thought about the lengthy sleep she'd been forced into as they wandered through the huge warehouse scanning items on a short, slim wand.

The wand was their currency as well as modem. It would relay her items to the pickers so that their purchases would be paid for and loaded in the jet when they were ready to go. Logan didn't use a standard modem like everyone else to order all they needed or have it delivered but she knew if it were up to her she would minimize her activity for any watching eyes as well. Wands were disposable, and once destroyed, untraceable.

Shopping was no longer done physically anymore. Everything was ordered over modems that were lodged as a chip within the individual. Deliveries were made by drones, or if you could afford a teleporter and weren't afraid of being on the grid then goods were delivered that way. There simply weren't any warehouses of any kind available to the public except in Haven.

Haven was a bustling town in the Rocky Mountains where rescued, abandoned, or wayward clones and robots that had fled from their masters had banded together. It was a town Logan and Ororo had founded after they'd ended up freeing clones unrelated to their friends during their search. But no one went to Haven without great need. The tales of the place were haunting whether real or not.

It was a type of Madripool of old in a manner. Logan's word was law although he lived outside Haven therefore off the radar, not that the UN was going to bother him. He pretty much lived as he chose because he was protected by the fear he'd instilled in world leaders. He didn't die. He would find you even if it took decades. He would kill you and your family, your friends, your neighbors, and your co-workers. They knew that because that's what he'd done when he'd gone on the hunt for the DNA of his friends and ex-teammates.

"It is a strange world," Peter said.

"It is a safe world," Ororo replied.

"We sleep and sleep . . . well . . . perhaps you do not sleep my friend."

"I sleep. I have slept for a month. We . . . he and I are . . . not like him and the other's. He loves Jean but she gets on his nerves. He hasn't learned to be patient even after all this time. He hasn't learned that love means you love someone despite their faults or what they are."

"Or perhaps he simply loves you and cannot say it."

Ororo looked confused for a moment and then she laughed.

"You love him too, yes?"

"Of course I do but he doesn't think we feel or have emotions outside of what we used to be. He sees us as we were. He could never love me."

"And yet he sleeps with you."

"I am not a sex toy, Peter. Perhaps others have been but Kitty . . ."

"Kitty! If he ever – I will kill him, she is only a child!"

Ororo touched his arm gently. "He sees Kitty and Jubilee as children that he sorely misses. He will never sleep with them, Peter. He loves them. Perhaps they are the only ones he ever truly loved."

"Then he does not . . . sleep with you?"

"No, Peter. Well, we sleep but there is nothing more than sleeping."

Peter grinned. "Ororo, I – I . . . I have wondered if you . . ."

"Oh, Peter! Look – look over there!" Ororo exclaimed suddenly.

"Oh, it's another me!"

"Which means we didn't get them all!"

"Not good. He will be displeased."

Ororo nodded. She knew Logan didn't like the thought of anyone abusing his friends whether as sex partners or laborers or errand boys or simple companions like Kitty and Jubilee and she were to him. And whether or not the clone was in Haven mattered little for if a new clone was there then that begged the question, were there more clones that they hadn't found?

"Excuse me," Peter said, tapping himself on the shoulder.

"Da? Oh, it is another me!" said his double with utter delight when he saw himself.

"Peter, look out!" Ororo cried in warning but the other Peter had already grabbed him by the waist and was throwing him to the floor.

"Ah, this will be fun, da?" Peter said, grinning wide as he broke free from his duplicate.

Ororo looked around wondering what she should do. She knew no one would interfere. Mostly she supposed they feared to do anything because this was Logan's domain. She was sure that everyone there assumed she was his woman and would discipline them as required. She decided to just let the two fight it out before asking questions of the new Peter and dealing out punishment. But as she came to this decision she was surprised to see Logan come up to her.

"I'm glad you're here darlin'," he said. "Guess they'll have a little fun and then we'll clean up."

" _They_ will clean up," she said and boldly slipped her hand in his.

He looked at her and then at their linked hands and then he smiled almost boyishly. She was surprised again. Logan never touched her when they were in public. She smiled as she remembered his arms around her yesterday even though that was in the privacy of his home. She felt his actions now proved the truth of his words, that he'd missed her since she'd been put away. The thought made her smile.

"We should get somthin' ta drink," he said.

"You know I don't drink."

"Well, can we go somewhere an' talk?"

Ororo looked at the warring Peter's, chuckled then nodded. As they walked through the warehouse no one seemed to notice them and no one bothered them any more than they did the two Peter's still locked in battle.

Outside the warehouse the sky was blue, the sun bright and warm, the clouds huge, white and billowy. Ordinarily they both would've looked at the wide expanse and taken immense pleasure at the sight of the beautiful vista but Ororo's thoughts were on Logan not on the view. And Logan was watching her now instead of enjoying the view of his beloved snowcapped mountains.

She smiled at him shyly and he grinned back.

"You're different," he said, sniffing her curiously.

"You're different too," she replied, backing away from him a little.

His hand was still holding onto hers so he had no choice but to follow her unless he let her go and he didn't want to. She stopped abruptly. What was the use of pretending? He wanted to kiss her; she saw this though she couldn't believe it. She wanted him to kiss her and she knew he had to see this as plainly as she saw his own desire. Surprisingly she'd never felt so nervous. Or so hopeful.

"I've been hoping you'd be like this one day," he said, his voice almost a whisper.

"I can't believe this, I've always wished you'd be like this with me," she said, breathlessly.

He stared at her hard. He still had her hand in his.

"It's this place," she said. "I always feel free here, as if I could do anything I want. Do you feel it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I feel it too darlin' – like I could do anything an' get away with it, at least today."

She was caught off guard when he let her hand go and drew her to him and kissed her.

"Did you like that?" he asked after he finally pulled back to look at her.

"Oh, I liked it very much!" she said feeling as if she were floating.

"Ya never let me kiss you – why now?"

"You never try to kiss me! You tell _me_ why now!"

They looked at each other rather quizzically.

"I'm just gonna come out an' say it, no more games, okay? I'm in love with ya, Ororo an' I've been dreamin' of running away with ya an' never lookin' back. Will ya run away with me darlin'?"

"Run away? Oh, Logan!" Ororo cried but her sudden joy plummeted. "You can't possibly be serious!"

"I'm so serious, darlin' an' I think you know it. I've wanted to get away, start somewhere new for years, just you an' me. I'm tired of this life we lead."

"I am too. I–I don't want to sleep ever again! I want to live – to live with . . ."

"Live with what?"

"With _you_ , Logan. I want to be with _you_."

He grinned. "I want you to marry me and forget those others. Do you think you can do that, Ro? Can you for _me_ darlin'?"

Ororo thought of Peter who she had thought had been ready to confess some hidden love for her and she smiled at her foolishness. But her smile faded as she thought of the one whom Logan truly loved.

"You do not know how I've longed to be free, to say I love you, to be with you and only you and I, Logan, I would galdly say yes – yes I'll run away with you . . . but are you sure it isn't Jean that you should marry?"

"Huh? Jean? That doesn't even make sense! Why would I want her when she's not you! I love you, Ororo! Why can't you see that? All these years I've been in love with _you_!"

After that Ororo didn't need anything else. She and Logan stole away, hand in hand, leaving the slugging Peter's to futilely search for them long after the colossuses had fought to a draw. Ororo and Logan walked into freedom losing themselves in Haven, together at last just as they'd both secretly longed for for decades on end.

 **Part Two**

Peter was at his wits end. He'd looked all over but he couldn't find Logan anywhere. When he got home quite late his mistress was waiting and she didn't look happy.

"Peter! What took you so long and where is Logan?"

"I seemed to have lost him I am afraid," the giant of a man said.

"You've lost my Logan!"

"I know there's only one but he was never . . ."

"No! No! No! Peter – how? Where were you? Where did you see him last? Show me! Come on! I have to find him!" Ororo had cried as she'd yanked her Peter clone by the arm and raced off.

Only one Logan clone had ever been made and Ororo had stolen it decades ago when she'd heard of the government experiment with Logan's DNA. She'd done extensive reconnoitering for weeks before breaking into the facility and everything had gone just as she'd planned. She'd disabled the cameras, alarms and lasers and with her winds had flown Logan out of there. Later he'd told her they had his DNA locked away in Brussels.

That raid hadn't gone as well. It hadn't been pretty. Dozens had been hurt, some killed. Ororo regretted the deaths but not that she'd saved Logan from being replicated and misused. She'd been determined to protect her friend's legacy but she hadn't expected that his clone would be so real. He'd become her best friend. He kept her sane in a world that seemed never to end.

Ororo had discovered that she couldn't die. When she was very old she'd said goodbye to her friends, including a still young Logan, and had returned to her mother's homeland to die. Except she hadn't. She'd merely faded into the elements, becoming one with the wind and sky. But, as if she were newly born she'd found she was only able to maintain physicality after a long period of time. But when she'd finally matured and was able to take form as a woman in her twenties she could tell no one for there were none that she could trust. By then the UN had taken over, mutants had been rounded up, and then the enforced birth control eventually eliminated mutants altogether. Until she'd stolen Logan she'd had no one.

She hadn't expected Logan to be so amorous, however. She'd tried to keep him at arm's length over the years but he seemed always to want more. To her it seemed an impossible thing. She'd fallen in love with Logan only she couldn't bring herself to make love to a clone. But when she'd thought he was gone she'd wanted to wail and cry and rip apart the skies that still did her bidding.

"I need him," she whispered to herself as she and Peter flew on her winds to the warehouse.

 **-xox-**

Peter was at his wits end. He had returned without Ororo whom he cared for very deeply so he was already upset so he hadn't been looking forward to facing Logan.

"Say that again, Petey."

"I am sorry, but she is gone."

"You're serious! Gone? How? How could you lose her? Where the hell is she?" Logan yelled.

"I was fighting and . . ."

"Fighting? You know the rules! Why the hell were ya fighting instead of watchin' Ororo and who the hell were ya fighting with? Did the guy you were fightin' take her? Answer me!"

"It was another me that I fought with, a clone, but he did not take her. We were equally matched, no powers sadly but it was fun. I didn't realize Ororo was no longer there. I am sorry."

"I've got to find her! I can't have her out there for anyone to hurt or . . . or . . ."

Logan could barely speak or think. The loss of Ororo hit him so hard that he felt as if he would die if he couldn't find her. He couldn't lose her! She was too pure, too good, too much his anchor in the never ending world he lived in.

 **-xox-**

No one was talking because everyone minded their own business in Haven. And no threat of being stabbed out of existence jogged anyone's memory even if it was the man who officially ran the place that was making the threats. Logan's first rule for Haven was that everyone mind their own business. His second rule was that no one was allowed to harm another. Break those laws and you risked being shut down. And over the years they'd discovered Logan didn't play so there was no reason to divert from the rules. Everyone had watched the Peter's fight with interest but as the two behemoth's laughed and taunted each other they'd soon seen it was nothing but a harmless and even enjoyable test of skill so eventually everyone had gone back to their work or shopping, including the manager Logan was questioning.

"You _had_ to have seen her, Summers! You _know_ her! _Think_ you idiot! She's beautiful with brown skin and blue eyes and white hair – long, down to the middle of her back – _Ororo_!" Logan screamed at the manager who happened to be a Scott clone which only agitated him further. He'd put all his collected Scott clones in charge of Haven, there hadn't been many, but he was sorely regretting it just now.

"Do you mean Storm over there, knocking our customer's all around the warehouse?" Scott asked, nodding in the direction of a majestic and terrifying sight for there was Ororo in full mistress of the storm mode with white eyes flashing like lightning and using every gust of wind in the vicinity to upturn every item and person in the warehouse.

"Ororo!" Logan cried.

"She cannot hear you over this wind – we must find shelter!" Peter shouted.

" _You_ hide, Petey, I ain't gonna let her get away with this!"

"Look out!" Peter cried as he grabbed his boss and Scott and ducked out of the way of several flying crates.

"Lemme go! I gotta get to her! Something's happened – how'd she get her powers? She's gotta be scared outta her mind!"

"She doesn't appear scared, she seems furious," Scott said as Peter let go of him and Logan.

Suddenly the wind eased and they saw a very angry Ororo change direction even as she redirected the winds to right people she'd sent flying in her rage and then she was speeding towards them. A flustered Peter ran after her trying to keep up.

Poor Peter was still at his wits end. He was grudgingly relieved to see Ororo's Logan but he was still reeling from his mistress's anger when he'd returned. She'd been surprisingly livid over the news of the missing clone.

She was still distraught as she flew over to Logan who was with another Peter. And she was still furious. Logan had scared her half to death!

"I could kill you, Logan! Where have you been?" she yelled.

"Where have _I_ been? Where the hell have _you_ been?" Logan yelled back.

"I wish I had stayed sleeping," Petey groaned as he stood beside Logan and Scott.

"She's gonna wish she'd stayed asleep too, Petey!" Logan growled.

"You will wish _you_ had remained asleep!" Ororo cried as she landed before them. "And look at you! What have you done to your hair? And why did you change clothes? What game are you playing at this time, Logan?"

Logan looked at Ororo who stepped closer, shoved him with both hands then reached for him, grabbed him by his shirtfront and tried to shake him. But he stood there like an anchor in a storm, nearly unmovable, grinning. And then, simultaneously, they fell into each other's arms.

He kissed her, she kissed him. They kissed and kissed, holding onto each other tight; both relieved and yet still petrified of having nearly lost the other.

"Don't do that to me again," she breathed, her hands balled in his hair. "You scared me to death!"

"Ro," he said and kissed her again.

"Oh, Logan," she murmured, lost in his kiss.

"Ah, I told her so," Petey said to his duplicate who'd just joined them. His voice was a little sorrowful as he wondered what had happened to make Ororo give into Logan so readily.

"I saw it over a century ago," Scott said.

"We all saw it too," Peter replied.

"This is quite a quandary," Petey said wondering at Ororo's newfound powers and Peter's comment.

"Quandary indeed," Peter replied, wondering what Ororo would do to Logan who was acting so brazenly.

"So, you're real, this is real," Logan murmured as he held Ororo at arm's length. "Darlin' I ain't never lettin' you outta my sight again!"

"Stop being so melodramatic and let me go!" she ordered, flustered and embarrassed with herself as she pulled free.

"Let you go?" Logan said with a laugh. But then the look on his face turned intense. "I feel like I've waited a few lifetimes ta hold ya like this so I ain't never lettin' ya go, Ro not when you're here and you're really you!"

"You've wasted my time enough already –stop playing games and we'll just forget this ever happened. There are more important things to worry about like discovering how we missed this Peter!" Ororo said, turning to look at the clone of her clone. But Logan pulled her back to him and abruptly laid his head on her chest.

"Oh!" Ororo cried, stunned, but instinctively her arms went around him and they stood like that for a long time. It was peaceful and somehow right after their shock although before it had never seemed right.

"Your smell – and your heart beat, it's so good to hold you," Logan said when he finally stepped back to look at her again.

"Smell?"

"You smell just like you should! Nothing can ever replace the way you smell, no clone – nothing!"

"What's gotten into you? I may have slipped for a moment but do not get the wrong idea, Logan! Nothing has changed between us. It was but one kiss!"

"Well, it was a whole bunch more 'n one an' it's gonna be a whole bunch more ta come darlin', you can count on that."

"How many times must I continue to tell you not to play with me and not to call me _darlin'_ , Logan? I will not allow it!"

"Why? What ya gonna do – shut me down?" Logan asked, still grinning happily.

Ororo caught her breath and Petey looked puzzled. Scott merely looked curious.

"Alright, so if ya ain't gonna shut me down then what? What kind of punishment am I gonna get for _this_ _darlin'_?" he asked just before he caught her by her waist, pulled her back to him and kissed her again.

Ororo tried to break free but her heart wanted no part of it. Her body wouldn't cooperate either, her legs were weak and her soul was soaring.

"It is a strange thing, love," Petey commented as Ororo gave in to Logan.

"Boy is it," Scott agreed. "I never could figure out why any woman liked him. Still can't."

"I think love is the sum of all we are perhaps," Peter said.

"If you love – if we all loved then there would be no war and no hatred. We would only want everyone to be happy," Petey waxed philosophically and his voice was no longer as sorrowful.

"Da."

"I want her to be happy," Petey whispered.

"I think we all do," Scott said.

"So what's my punishment gonna be darlin'?" Logan asked brashly, flashing a wicked grin because he was enjoying himself more than he had in years.

"Impudent, insufferable, presumptuous . . . !"

"You ain't never reigned him in – er, me, have ya?"

"You would not be this free with me if I had!"

"But you kinda like it don't ya?"

"I refuse to play this game."

Logan laughed. "Naw, this ain't a game darlin', it's only too real. I don't mean ta get ya all worked up either. Thing is, we're both real, neither of us is a clone. But ya gotta tell me how you're still alive!"

"Of all the idiotic . . . ! Logan, for the last time I am warning you to stop playing with me! Do not mistake my relief in finding you as anything else! Now tell me how is this possible – another Peter? Peter – our Peter told me but I hardly believed him."

"I do not lie!" Ororo's Peter said.

"We do not lie," Logan's Petey agreed.

"Then tell me what's going on!" Ororo demanded.

"Darlin' I'm guessin' what's happened is that we both lost our . . . well, we've lost someone we care a lot about from the looks of it. I'm guessin' you had my clone just like I had your clone."

"My clone? There are no clones of me! Logan, I'm fast losing my patience with you! Now stop talking nonsense or so help me I _will_ shut you down!"

Logan caught her by her shoulders. "Darlin', you can't shut me down 'cause I ain't the clone ya think ya lost, I ain't your clone, I'm as real as you! Look at me! I know I'm older but it's me!"

Ororo looked hard at him before slowly reaching out and touching his face. "Logan?"

"Yeah, darlin' it's me!"

"Then . . . your hair . . . Logan, really is it you?"

He grinned and nodded. "As real as you apparently, Ro though I guess I got some pretty white whiskers, eh?"

"I'd – I'd heard stories but no one . . . no one ever knew . . . You're – you're really Logan?"

Logan nodded as her hands cupped his face. The look of wonderment on her face touched and pleased him.

"Yeah, darlin' it's me."

"But . . . but . . . then what of my Logan – my – my clone?" she asked as her Peter looked on in disbelief.

"That's a good question, darlin' but how'd ya get a clone of _me_ anyway? Where'd ya get my DNA from?"

"I – I stole him and your DNA a long time ago from the labs that started this madness," she said as she dropped her hands.

He grinned and caught her hands in his. "I stole your DNA too."

"My DNA! But there was nothing in Forge's lab; I scoured it thoroughly! Ah – so then it was _you_ who was always a step ahead of me!"

"Not really darlin' I never found out what happened to _my_ DNA, not till now anyways. Thanks fer lookin' out fer me Ro."

"But of course! And you – you must have everyone's DNA then!"

"Yeah. I mean except fer the stuff you probably have."

She smiled and sighed. "Then we've kept our X-Men safe."

"Damn, I haven't heard that in a long time. Been a hell of a long time us bein' a part of Charlie's dream, huh?"

"A very long time."

"But how did you . . . ? I mean you should be dead like everyone else, Ro."

" _You_ are not dead, Logan," she said smiling.

"But that don't explain how _you're_ not."

"I believe I am what is known as an elemental. Hank once explained it to me, a theory he had about me and, well, he was right and here I am."

"Yeah, here you are – just look at you!" he said, shaking his head as he stared at her with the happiest of smiles.

"It is . . . I – I hardly know what to say, it's unbelievable!"

"Yeah but it's so good ta see ya an' hold ya," he said, taking her into his arms again. "I've missed you. But, hey, how come ya didn't know I was still alive darlin'? Ya shoulda known I was – didn't ya ever think about lookin' for me?"

"You weren't easy to find for all my searching. I suppose when I couldn't find you I just stopped hoping and gave up."

" _You_ give up? I can't even believe that darlin'!"

"Time has a way of changing people. You should know that, Logan."

"Maybe in some ways but not the fundamentals."

"But, Logan no one knew anything of you! I heard tales of course but no one knew anything concrete. I – I do not use my powers – _ordinarily –_ I was just so upset earlier with you – I mean my Lo – my clone. But even with my powers I couldn't have found you. I only recently suspected you might be here but in the months that I have been here searching no one would tell me anything even with threat of death by lightning."

"Well, they probably didn't believe you'd hurt 'em since that ain't your style so much as it's mine. Besides they would've thought you were my Ro, er, I mean my clone. But, yeah, I know what ya mean. People here don't talk; not with the Scotty's I left in charge bein' such sticklers for the rules. Guess that's what I get fer puttin' him in charge. Uh, hey, excuse me a moment will ya, Ro? That reminds me of somethin' I forgot. Come here a minute, Petey."

Petey and Logan stepped aside while Ororo and Peter glanced at each other.

"Can you turst that he is who he says?" Peter asked Ororo quietly while Petey and Logan conversed.

Ororo inhaled deeply trying to come down from her high. "I am certain it is him, Peter, no man kisses like him. But perhaps you've a good point."

"Better safe than sorry," Scott said for he had stayed, quite intrigued with this turn of events.

"Should I send for back up?" Peter asked.

Ororo chuckled. "With me and you together my friend? Hah! We need no back up!"

"Da! How stupid of me to even suggest a thing."

The three of them were laughing when Logan and Petey came back.

"What's so funny?" Logan asked.

"Life," Ororo said smiling like a girl experiencing her first crush. "So you are James, Logan, Howlett, the Wolverine. I can hardly believe it. But of course you must see that you will have to prove it to me."

"No problem," he said and grabbed her, dipped her low and kissed her like only Logan could.

Peter and Petey just watched, one grinning, the other frowning slightly. Scott rolled his eyes.

Ororo was left speechless when he let her go.

"Ya got any doubts now darlin'?" Logan asked, grinning as wide as she'd been grinning before.

"I . . . I needed no proof and still no proof is needed," Ororo said, smiling dreamily.

But Scott produced a small scanner and thrust it at Logan.

"What? Whose side are you on, Slim? Don't I pay ya enough?"

"Maybe you should just prove you are who you say you are," Scott replied with a smug smile.

"I know that you are truly Logan," Ororo said as she reached out as if to stop him. "You do not have to do this."

"Well, it's untraceable and disposable, ain't gonna bring a pack of ninja's after my ass so . . ."

Logan nodded as he took the small pocket scanner and pressed it to his eye with a chuckle. Momentarily they heard a quiet, short beep. Ororo took it from him and pressed her eye to it and they heard the same sound. She then handed it to her Peter who put his eye against it and the scanner beeped loudly and continuously even as he crushed it beneath his booted foot.

"We are alive," Ororo whispered.

"You better believe it darlin'!"

"How I have missed you even though you have been with me all these years."

"Darlin I can't tell ya how much I missed you! I had ya with me all the time too but I think that just made me miss you more. Ya know ya never really think about who you'd wanna spend a lifetime with if you were stuck on a desert island or something – time was I would've thought it was Jeannie . . ."

Ororo cut him off. "I can hardly believe we have found each other again after all these years but . . . but . . ." She looked around. "Surely you must have a Jean clone with you."

"Nope."

"No Jean?" Ororo asked, surprised.

"Nope."

"No Jean?" Scott asked, equally surprised.

"You ever seen her here with me?" Logan barked.

"Uh . . . er . . . no. You're usually with Ororo." Scott paused and looked at Ororo who smiled. "I just thought you'd have a Jean," he finished.

"Shouldn't you be working, Summer's?" Logan said, annoyed.

Scott just grinned, saluted his boss then trotted off to take charge of putting the warehouse back in order.

"I ain't gonna lie darlin', I have a Jean clone but she was . . . er . . . pushy and a little demandin' – it wasn't working. She's deactivated, stored in the basement outta sight, outta my way, never ta be seen again, ain't that right Petey?" Logan said. His entire selection of women would be gone by time he got back. Peter was to send an alert via remote to get the worker clones activated and busy removing the women before he got back to shopping.

Peter nodded. "We are all deactivated for most of the year."

"Mine are not but I have so few."

"Ya got a Forge?"

"Well, yes," she said and he could tell she was a little embarrassed and he knew why.

"Got tired of him already?"

She looked very embarrassed as she nodded.

"Ya got a Panther?"

"Yes," she admitted. "But that was a mistake. He won't stop talking."

They both laughed.

"Jean and Betts were like that."

"I'd rather not hear who you have been with."

"Truth is, Ro, I only wanted to be with you only I couldn't bring myself to – I mean she was never really you."

"I felt the same about Logan – the – my . . ."

"I know what ya mean darlin'. Let's say we get outta here so we can talk in private."

"I'd like that, Logan."

"You two finish fillin' our orders an' get 'em back ta my place an' Petey make sure the house is squared away like we talked about."

"Da!" both Peter's chorused.

" _Your_ place?"

"You're comin' home with me darlin' since we're gonna be t'gether from now on."

"Well, I hardly expect . . . I mean surely you would think to ask . . ."

He was kissing her again. He felt her submitting even as he swelled with joy and love and desire.

"This has to be the best day of my life finding you here lookin' for me while I'm lookin' for you," he said some minutes later.

"But what of our Ororo?" Petey asked.

"And what of our Logan?" Peter asked.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, Ro's out there all by herself!"

"But what if they are together?" Petey asked.

"That would be too much of a . . . coincident," Ororo said though her voice faltered as she realized that it wouldn't really be.

"I saw another Ororo when my dup here spoke to me," Peter said. "I merely thought you had changed your mind and flown ahead of us, Ororo but later after Peter and I talked I realized she was not you."

"Then they were here at the same time," she mused.

"You were supposed ta keep an eye on her, Petey," Logan said gruffly.

"I know and I am truly sorry I failed."

"What does she mean to you?" Ororo asked.

"I guess I love her – _you_."

Ororo started laughing.

"Is that so funny? I never tried anything with her at least!"

"It's funny because I've fallen in love with my Logan – with _you_ I suppose."

"That ain't funny ta me darlin'."

"Well, no, no it really isn't."

"Our Ororo is gone. She may not realize she is with a clone and yet she has what she wanted," Petey said and his deep voice was as mournful as a funeral dirge.

"She'll be safe with Logan," Peter said.

"I need her to be safe," Logan said and Petey nodded in agreement.

"Logan will protect her with his life, we both know this. It is odd though that he chose to leave with . . ."

"With _you_ , that what ya mean darlin'?"

"Well, yes."

"He's in love with you ain't he?"

"I suspected."

"Then he got what he wanted too."

Ororo looked quite uncomfortable and Logan couldn't help chuckling.

"And my clone – was she in love with you as your Peter has indicated?" she retaliated.

Logan sighed. He had suspected that she was, even hoped that she was, but he'd never felt right about leading her on. As much as he enjoyed being with her, holding her, sharing quiet times with her and just talking with her he simply hadn't been able to go any further with her.

"So she was," Ororo said.

"She might've been. I had her shut down for a while, tryin' ta think things through."

"And what did you decide?"

"That I needed ta shut her down again, let it go."

"And now?"

"I hope she's gonna be happy with – with me I guess. He's like me right?"

She nodded. "Oh yes indeed and with all your delightful qualities and all your _not_ so delightful qualities."

"Then she did get what she wanted I guess so I'm happy for her. Come on, let's go have that talk darlin'," he said as he caught her hand in his and led her off.

Little did they know, they followed the same path their clones had followed, through the warehouse and outside beneath the seemingly never ending sky, walking into freedom.

"I'm gonna tell ya the truth," he said. "I thought I was gonna die from boredom an' then I saw you with some old man an' I knew I had ta get ya away from him. If it hadn't been for you – for her – she was always . . . she was always _you_ . . . she kept me sane."

Ororo smiled. " _You_ were a little frisky which kept me on my toes but I knew he was never really you for all he looked and acted like you. I forced myself to keep him at arm's length and yet we became the best of friends. I always wished we could have been more but I feared I would fall deeper in love with him and it didn't seem right."

He wrapped his arms around her. "Weird how things work out in the end, huh?" he murmured.

"Yes, it is. I – I will miss him as I know you will miss her but . . ."

"We'll miss 'em sure, but we got the person we really wanted an' so did they in a way. I loved her because she was you and you're the only woman I want."

"I – I never imagined this. I'm a little sad and yet I am so happy."

"Me too darlin'."

She sighed and held onto him for a while and he reveled in the unmistakable scent of the Storm goddess. They stood locked in each other's arms for a long time, quiet and thankful.

"So ya know you're gonna have ta marry me."

"But of course!"

"This couldn't get any better," he said before he kissed her lips tenderly.

"Then you are okay with letting her go?" Ororo asked with a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

"I just want her to be okay but I guess she knew what she was doin'. Maybe that should be enough for me, for both of us."

"I hope so because I'd rather not live with a ghost haunting us. Like Jean."

"Jean? She never haunted us!"

"She loomed large and real. You never thought of me and I dared not think of you."

"Well, time changes everything. Like I said, Jean's packed up in the basement with all the others, well, accept our girls – I mean Jubes an' Kitty."

"You have Jubilee and Kitty? Oh, what a treat!" Ororo said excitedly.

"Don't know as I'd call it a treat but they can make some pretty good treats if ya like burgers an' sandwiches. Ya know we really shoulda taught 'em how ta cook."

"So, then they will be there, and your Peter – that is Petey – and my Peter. I like that; we'll be a family again."

Logan grinned. Even as he spoke he was sure his worker clones had already been activated and were moving the containment chambers of his selection of women from his closet to the basement. When Ororo went home with him, only Kitty and Jubilee would be there. He wasn't going to miss any of the women either now that he had Ororo – the real Ororo. Just thinking about having the real Ororo in his arms made him actually feel a little giddy.

"Hey! You got a Remy?" he asked suddenly.

"No. I only have a few clones; I did not have replicas made. It would be too hard for me to have so many of our friends with me and it would do them an injustice I believe. Why? Do _you_ have a Remy?" she asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Don't get too happy darlin', I deactivated him after he helped me an' Ro – I mean he helped your clone an' me round up all the clones an' samples."

"Brilliant plan, no powers but still thieves at heart," Ororo said and couldn't help laughing.

"So, what now? Wanna get ta know each other before we get hitched? Or, well, I know a guy who can fix it for us, make it legal an' keep it quiet."

"Of course you do."

"Or we can wait . . ."

"Wait? Oh no, there'll be no waiting! Let's just find your man, making as little threats as possible mind you, and we'll get married and _then_ we'll get to know each other all over again," Ororo said and laughed because Logan was right, people didn't change fundamentally and if you loved someone you loved them through the good the bad the ugly and you loved them till death or forever.

"I know ya know the law, you marry me an' you're stuck with me for life an' it don't seem like we're ever gonna leave this life darlin'. You ready for that?"

"Together forever? I couldn't ask for more!"

"We're that certain or that desperate you think?"

"I've been in love with a pretty randy man for decades and I've been avoiding him for that long so yes, Logan I am that desperate but I am that certain too. I love you so much and how good it feels to be able to admit it and to say it! I love you!" Ororo squealed and threw her arms around him and hugged him tight.

Logan laughed. "This is gonna be so much fun, Ro think of it, we've got a few lifetimes ahead of us ta be t'gether and darlin' an' I ain't never lettin' you go," he said as he removed her arms from around him then took hold of her hand and led her out into Haven.

Once again they followed the same path their clones had tread. The future no longer seemed dim and never ending but now it loomed bright and promising. And not surprisingly, both couples lived pretty happily ever after for the rest of their very long lives.

 **~Finis~**


End file.
